Champion golfer Johnny Miller (no relation) played, lived and raised a family at Silverado and now may be returning to save it.

Miller is part of a syndicate looking to buy the 1,200-acre property with two championship 18-hole golf courses in the heart of Napa Valley. "There is a letter of understanding, and the group is conducting due diligence," said Bob Eaton, managing director of San Francisco's PKF Capital, which is handling the deal.

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Eaton would not disclose the price but said it was "far upwards" of $20 million, though significantly less than the $110 million the late Isao Okawa, former chairman of Sega Corp., paid for it in 1989.

The deal is by no means a certainty. Other prospective buyers have taken a look since the resort was put on the market in September, but, for one reason or another, passed. "The profit stream needs to be evaluated," said one source with knowledge of the deal.

So will the amount of new money the new owner will need to put into it. "It's safe to say all groups have considered major capital expenditures," Eaton said. Look for the golf courses, redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Jr., to be spruced up, whoever closes the deal, he said.

Almost 'got killed': Like so much of California's hospitality industry - especially high-end hotels and resorts - Silverado has been hit hard by the Great Recession. At one point, its room occupancy - which depends largely on group bookings from trade associations, auto dealers, sales teams and the like - fell to 18 percent, according to one source knowledgeable of Silverado's situation.

"It was the 'AIG effect,' " said Eaton, referring to corporations slashing such expenditures in the wake of stories about bailed-out companies like American International Group Inc. spending lavish amounts on hotels and resorts. "It wiped out half their business," Eaton said. "Resorts got killed."

Silverado has attempted to make up for the losses with the generous discounts and "stay and play packages," such as $299 per night for a "fireplace suite" and a round of golf on one of its championship courses. But with 500 employees, 280 condo units, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, 10 swimming pools, 16 tennis courts, three bocce ball courts, three restaurants and a 16,000-square-foot spa to fill, Silverado will need to move from being a "group house" operation, overly dependent on multiday corporate bookings, Eaton said.

"That's the kind of play the industry is looking for," he said.

Back to its roots: Making it more specifically a golf resort, especially with Miller's involvement, would be one way to go, he said. But, I'm told, that is likely to be without Silverado's current management company, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which is owned by San Francisco Examinerproprietor Philip Anschutz.

"I can understand how attractive this could be to Johnny," said Sandy Tatum, former president of the United States Golf Association, who is overseeing the $18 million redevelopment of San Francisco's Harding Park golf course. "The development has never reached its potential, and it's great for golf. If Johnny's involved, that would be attractive to a lot of people."

The iconic nature of Silverado helps. "If this was some sort of general roadside hotel, there wouldn't be this level of interest," Eaton said. "I feel very confident we'll get this thing done," perhaps by midyear, he said.

"But then," he added, "I'm a broker. I always feel confident."

More local microfinance: Grameen America, the U.S. branch of Muhammad Yunus' global microfinance organization, will launch operations in the Bay Area this summer, assisted by $1 million from San Francisco's Wells Fargo & Co.

Executives from Yunus' Grameen Bankin Bangladesh will relocate to San Francisco to open and manage branches in the Bay Area, adding to the bank's three branches in New York and one in Omaha, Neb. ( www.grameenamerica.com).

Wells Fargo's below-market-rate loan is one of the bank's environmentally focused Green Equity Equivalent Investments (Green EQ2) initiatives, launched in 2006. It has provided more than $92 million in financing since its launch in 2006, according to the bank (sfgate.com/ZJPD).

More for fair housing: Bay Area nonprofit housing organizations have received more than $2.2 million in federal money to address complaints of housing discrimination in Northern California.

The award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Housing Initiatives program is the latest tranche of $26.3 million granted to fair housing organizations and other nonprofit agencies in 37 states and the District of Columbia. (sfgate.com/ZJPE).